On Tuesday, two southern white rhinos from a private ranch in Uganda were reintroduced into Kidepo Valley National Park in the northeast of the country.
Two more rhinoceroses, transported in metal crates, arrived on site Thursday.
There were no rhinos in Kidepo Valley National Park since 1983, a consequence of poaching.
But a private ranch located in central Uganda, the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, has been raising these large mammals since 2005.
“The Kidepo Valley Conservation Area was once home to the northern white rhino, a subspecies of the white rhino, but we are now introducing the southern white rhino because, as you may know, there are only two northern white rhinos left in the entire world: two elderly females located at Ol Pejeta, here in Kenya. And of course, efforts are underway to produce more northern white rhinos, working on fertilizing embryos using southern white rhinos as surrogate mothers; so it is an ongoing process,” says James Musinguzi, Executive Director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
The initiative is appreciated by the local communities. Eric Awich lives near Kidepo National Park and is delighted by the arrival of rhinos in his region 43 years later.
''For me personally, my father was a conservationist in Kidepo National Park. He was a ranger, but my grandfather had told me that the rhinos that lived here disappeared in the early 70s. However, when I saw the transfer of the rhinos, I was very moved and I really appreciate that the UWA is supporting Kidepo by reintroducing these extinct animals'', says Eric Awich, a member of the community living near Kidepo National Park.
Ugandan authorities in the sector, for their part, hailed it as a "historic day" for the country.
